


Prom Queen (Reprise)

by Mouse (clandestineAbattoir)



Series: That's Not Me I'll Never Be Prom Queen [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Christmas Party, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Past Character Death, Songfic, Suicidal Thoughts, but duck isnt here to fix it this time oops., indrid is still sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-30 05:33:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20809355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clandestineAbattoir/pseuds/Mouse
Summary: "I'm an icebergThere's so much more that your eyes can't seeTwo girls walk into a partyThe one that gets noticed isn't meI'm holding onBut barely, plagued by teenage popularityIt's a terrible feeling being the ghost on the wallThat's always disappearing"-Prom Queen by Catie Turner





	Prom Queen (Reprise)

Indrid was leaning against the wall in the corner of Amnesty Lodge, letting himself feel the warmth of the fire in the fireplace and the people in the room. He watched them, all their happy faces, full of life and hoy and wonder. Something he hadn’t felt in months. He felt wanted, once upon a time. Duck had made him feel wanted. But now Duck was gone. And he was alone again.

When Duck had first… left. (Died. Why could he not let himself think the word?) Aubrey and Mama had checked in on Indrid regularly. Bringing him food, making sure he had gone outside at least one during the week. But eventually, once they seemed to have determined that he wasn’t going to throw himself off a bridge or something, (he had entertained the idea, but something in the back of his head told him that Duck would never forgive himself if he knew he was the cause of Indrid’s death, and he decided against it,) they left him alone for the most part. 

He sighed, fiddling with the sleeve of the red sweater that he had worn to this party. A Christmas party. He would have loved to celebrate Christmas with Duck. (Duck had already decided what he was getting Indrid, before it happened. An electric blanket. Indrid was excited, despite himself.) Duck was the only one he knew who would be willing to curl up by the fire with him and drink a glass of hot eggnog. And he would have had the added bonus of Duck sneaking a kiss between sentences. Duck was good at kissing. The kisses were always soft and sweet. Duck was always soft and sweet.

But that didn’t matter now. Duck was gone, and he was at the Christmas party alone, standing in the corner like a forgotten piece of furniture. The numbness of his fresh grief is the only thing that kept the frustration at bay. He closed his eyes behind his glasses, taking a steadying breath, idly following an unlikely future. Aubrey does a magic show, and accidentally sets Dani’s hair on fire. Stern panics and throws his scotch onto the flame, which only serves to make it worse. Kirby casually dumps a can of Pepsi on her head, which does the trick. He looks very cool doing it. Indrid laughs a little at the image, and opens his eyes. Immediately, he makes eye contact with Aubrey from across the room. Oops. 

She excuses herself from the conversation she had been having with Thacker and Mama, and walks over to where Indrid is standing.

“I didn’t think you were going to come,” is the first thing she says when she is close enough to Indrid to have a conversation without shouting.

“I needed to get out of the ‘Bago eventually. Can’t spend the rest of my life in there crying.” 

He was attempting to joke, but Aubrey doesn’t seem to find it particularly funny.

“I was gonna ask how you were holding up, but that answers that question.”

“I was joking,” he clarifies. She doesn’t believe him.

“I told Mama we should have kept checking in on you,” she mumbles, staring into her drink (a Malibu Sunset, Indrid’s brain supplies.)

“Aubrey, it is quite fine, really. There were very few futures in which I did anything truly rash. You didn’t need to bother yourself making the trek all the way out to the campground. I’m fine by myself.”

He says it less convincingly than he would like. 

“No, Indrid. You’re not,” Aubrey crosses her arms and levels a glare at him, “Duck told me that you were feeling abandoned, even before he…” She pauses, and looks at him much more hesitantly. She doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

“You can say it, it’s the truth, after all.”

“Before he died. I knew after it happened that you shouldn’t be alone. But we left you alone after a month. Mama said you would be fine, but she doesn’t know you like I did.”  _ Like Duck did. _ The unspoken end of that sentence hangs heavy in the air. 

He sighs.

“I can’t say I would mind some company every once and a while,” he admits. 

“Why don’t you just stay at the lodge. We have the room to spare. That way you can be near us all the time!” 

Aubrey seemed excited about this idea, but Indrid was apprehensive. As much as he did want to hang around a little more, he was wary of being around these people 24/7. It seemed a little overwhelming. Besides, the ‘Bago held too many memories to just… let go of like that.

As if sensing the gears in Indrid’s head whirring, Mama walked over.

“Why don’t you just park the bago out back and stay there. We got some old utility hookups there that you can use. That way you ain’t gotta stay here all the time, but you’ll be closer in case you decide that you do want some company.”

Indrid thought for a second. Maybe Duck was right. Maybe they did want him around, after all.

“I think that would be lovely, Mama.”

**Author's Note:**

> I might put out a third part of this explaining how Duck dies, would y'all want that?


End file.
